


Five Times Jimmy Novak Woke Up

by slartibartfast



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 5 Things, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-14
Updated: 2009-11-14
Packaged: 2017-10-02 16:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slartibartfast/pseuds/slartibartfast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the briefest of moments, Jimmy could feel the turn of the Earth beneath his feet and the burn of the stars above him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Jimmy Novak Woke Up

1.

It was a strange kind of dream that didn't sit well in the mind. It seemed too big, too real and too terrifying to fit inside the head of one ordinary person. Jimmy woke with his heart beating too fast and his head spinning an hour before he had to get up for work, the dark only broken by the hall light they kept on for Claire.

So he lay in the dark with his eyes open to nothing and waited for the strange exhilarating terror to pass.

He couldn't remember it, not quite, just some odd details. A light that should be blinding, strong wings, fire, and so much blood. A voice beyond any he'd heard before, if it could be described as a voice at all.

When Amelia awoke, he told her he'd dreamt of flying and pushed it from his mind.

 

2.

Castiel had been using his body for exactly three days to the minute. He could only assume he knew that so certainly because Castiel _wanted_ him to know it, since his grasp on time had been thoroughly shaken up. Jimmy had been conscious for very little of that but opening his own eyes was disorientating. It didn't help that, for the briefest of moments, he could feel the turn of the Earth beneath his feet and the burn of the stars above him.

"Whoa," he said, and sat down on the ground with a solid thump.

The ground beneath him was rough, brown rock and his head had only just stopped spinning when the light of the angel lit it too bright. Jimmy blinked sluggishly and tipped his head back to face the great presence before him. "Hi Castiel. Is there a problem?"

_You are suffering,_ the angel replied.

"Yeah. I guess so. I didn't really expect this to be a walk in the park though." Jimmy made a soft noise and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a serious mess but patting it down seemed to make no difference at all. He waited for a reply but none was forthcoming so he frowned and spoke again, concerned. "Hey, is there something wrong? Does my body not fit or something?"

_You are suffering,_ Castiel repeated. _I have never taken a human vessel before now. I did not realize._

"I haven't changed my mind," Jimmy said quickly. So far it had been pretty terrible, it was true, but he felt the goodness that came with it, and his life had a purpose even if it was no longer his own.

Castiel didn't reply but there was a strange shift in the air and Jimmy had felt that before. He took a long, deep breath for the last time in a long while, and then everything went white.

 

3.

"Where's Castiel?"

There was a red-headed woman with wide eyes and a soft smile sitting opposite him on the motel bed. She patted Jimmy on the shoulder with the soft rustle of clothes and grace. "He'll return soon. You weren't supposed to wake."

Jimmy swallowed. His throat was dry and his stomach was empty. His head hurt and he had no idea how long it had been since he'd last felt the air around him. It felt amazing even when that air was laced with the stale stench of a cheap motel room.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked, though of course that's not what she was. Her gaze was too old and powerful for that.

"You're an angel," Jimmy said in lieu of a reply. His heart thumped its excitement at being faced with a holy being, even though he had been tied for so long to another. "What's your name?"

"Hanael," she replied, but it seemed to throw her to hear that spoken aloud, so she shook her head and tried again. "I'm Anna."

"Anna. Is my family still safe?" he asked.

"They're fine. They miss you, but they're fine."

He nodded, accepting that answer if only because the thought of any other might break his slightly fragile thoughts right now. The mattress beneath him was lumpy and he shifted uncomfortably, forcing himself to sit up with muscles that ached as though they'd been put through the worst. They probably had. "Why a motel?" he asked, glancing around with a frown. "It's not exactly an angelic setting."

Anna smiled strangely and Jimmy wondered it meant. "Castiel has become... attached to them, for a number of reasons. You're safe here."

He shrugged and stood up stiffly. He could get some water; take away the dry scrape of his tongue and his chapped lips.

Castiel returned before he had the chance.

 

4.

The angel was in his daughter spilling light from her eyes and blood was spilling from Jimmy's mouth.

There really was no decision to make. Jimmy hoped with all he had that he would never wake again.

 

5.

The moment before the archangel bore down upon them, Castiel apologised. For an instant, Jimmy was aware again, caught in the agony of an injury his body didn't remember, seeing a house he didn't recognise and an unfamiliar man who stared at him in bleary-eyed shock.

"Cas says sorry," the man said. His breath stank of beer. The house was shaking around them and the light that began to fill his sight was like Castiel, but worse.

"Am I going to die?" Jimmy asked. The thought didn't terrify him as much as it should.

The man nodded. "Yeah. I guess. He wanted to tell you that. Your family... they're safe, I know they're safe."

"Okay," Jimmy said, and turned his gaze back to the light in front of them. "Tell him it's okay."

A moment later an angel's grace burnt out his own soul, but with it came peace, and at last Jimmy welcomed it.


End file.
